Americans Flee Barack Obama

In a recent piece from the New York Times magazine, President Obama simply makes a fool of himself. He admits that “shovel ready jobs” do not exist and that he spent nearly a trillion dollars learning that lesson. In addition to his failure to grasp the time consuming effects of bureaucracy the president was obviously not aware of the aptitude of municipal government officials to lie when it means bringing federal government money to their coffers. The Obama administration sold these bad policies to the American public, and as Jonah Golberg writes at National Review, the president and his advisors now make an argument akin to “Our product is perfect, we just didn’t sell it convincingly to the rubes.”

I was under the impression that President Obama was supposed to be the “Great Communicator.” In fact, I thought that was supposed to be one of his major qualifications for being president, his ability to communicate with the American people, and with foreign nations. If he can’t communicate his own policy to the American people, how is he supposed to communicate America’s positions to the world? Does anyone have any hope for the Middle East peace talks that are currently underway and taking a massive amount of the American administration’s time and money to undertake? I didn’t think so.

Since Barack Obama sold Americans this bill of goods, those who voted for him hoping for a true change in the way government does business have fled the ranks of his supporters. Women and independents are disproportionately casting the president aside with buyer’s remorse. Jedediah Bila writes in National Review that over 40% of Americans who supported Barack Obama are now having second thoughts. In the closely balanced partisan world of American politics, that’s a bloc of support akin to a tidal wave on election day.

The foundations of this migration away from the president were built in New Jersey where, only a year after electing Barack Obama as president, New Jerseyans gave the administration a slap in the face by kicking out its anointed candidate, Jon Corzine, and electing conservative Chris Christie to the office of governor. This was the first major repudiation of President Obama and his policies at the polls, in November Americans will see an even greater exodus.

The smart money has already abandoned Democrats this year. Brody Mullins and Danny Yardon write in the Wall Street Journal Democratic leaning fund raising groups are hoping to raise a fifth of what comparable conservative groups have raised to support House candidates. A fifth? They can’t even seem to get that done. Meanwhile, whereas President Obama was able to command funds from housewives and businesspeople across the nation, this year Democrats are relying mostly on union money to fund their campaigns.

Nowhere can this shift be seen with greater clarity than in Ohio, one of the most crucial swing states in the country. As Stephen Hayes writes in The Wall Street Journal, 61% of Ohioans say that the president hasn’t made any progress on the economy. After winning the state with only 52% of the vote, that’s a sobering reality check to the president. Rob Portman, running for Senate, and John Kasich, running for governor, in Ohio are both ahead of their opponents, and in light of the above statistics it’s no wonder. The tax and spend policies of the Obama administration are completely wrong for Ohio, and the country.

The economy could be in much better shape than it is today if the administration didn’t seem actively opposed to American business doing business. As Ken Langone, primary investor in the Home Depot writes that during a town hall meeting, he asked the president “why, during a time when investment and dynamism are so critical to our country, was it necessary to vilify the very people who deliver that growth?” The president answered Langone that he “was part of a “reckless” group that had made “bad decisions” and now required [the president’s] guidance, if only [he]’d stop “resisting” it.” Is that really what American business owners need? The president has nearly zero private sector experience, and has created exactly no jobs in the private sector. How would a successful business creator like Ken Langone benefit from the president’s rhetoric on business creation? Mr. Langone helped create the fastest growing retailer in American history, which employs tens of thousands in North America.

Particularly grating is the president’s frequent assertion that business somehow reduces the number of people with health care insurance. In fact both small and large business are the primary providers of health insurance to Americans, not government, though that may soon change as Obamacare drives businesses to drop their coverage. That is exactly the intended result, as the president sees a “public option” as the best formula for health insurance. To cripple American business and force Americans into begging for a public option, Obamacare includes mandates for both businesses and individuals that will deny them the right to the health care they wish to have. Currently 20 states are suing the federal government to have that portion of Obamacare overturned. Wish them luck, or you may be out of health care insurance soon.

Commentary by E.J. Smith

Don’t expect the “productivity” President Mr. Obama and the progressives to suddenly pivot to the center come November 3. They believe it’s you and me that need to get up to speed with them and that if we just trust them everything will be fine. It’s full speed to the left. How else can you explain Obama’s conviction that we need to spend another $50 billion that we don’t have on planes, trains and automobiles. He asks his strongest supporters not make him look bad in November. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

You would think with his back against the wall Barney Frank would be more cognizant about the repercussions for his private jet travel courtesy of a fellow Congress woman’s boyfriend, who just so happens to be a hedge fund manager. It’s hard to believe Frank was impartial in drafting the financial reform bill. Are we really supposed to believe he had Massachusetts, or the rest of the country for that matter, in mind when a hedge fund guy is picking up the airfare? Voters need to vote out Mr. Bank.